2004 subaru outback

[pauleyman]

I must be a nut. Found a 5spd subaru outback for the teenager with a "bad trans". Owner reports some non specific grinding noise and it left him stranded and won't go into gear. Gearshift just flops all over the place. Nightmare and run? Or worth saving. Only 150k on it. Anybody know subie common trans problems?

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I my opinion, there's no Subaru that isn't worth saving. They're so damn easy to work on, and you can find the parts nearly anywhere. My brother has had 3 of them, and I've had 2.

The trans damage is quite common on those above 125k miles, if they've been beaten on. One popular thing for people to do is swap a WRX trans in the non turbo models because it's so much stronger and lasts much longer.

If it's grinding and won't go into any gear, it likely has a shattered clutch disc like the one in my picture below. This is from my first Subaru (05 Impreza)

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The car had 178k on it when that happened. The guy was going to send it to the junkyard but I decided to pick it up and save it. After a new clutch, pp, and flywheel it was on the road again. The trans would still grind when shifting into 2nd and reverse. But doing some reading that's very common for those transmission with that many miles.

All this being said. If you're up for an engine pull (which is easy on subie's) then buy the car. Maybe you'll clean it up and save it like I did.

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[19Eclipse90]

I'm a fan, also, so I share the same mindset that most are worth saving. But I also haven't dove real deep into them.

Lately, LKQ and Pull-a-Part have both had 5+ Subaru varieties in their yards and, from what I've seen, the Outbacks generally go untouched other than the interiors.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

The junkyards do seem have a wealth of non turbo Subarus. Also for the sloppy shifter, a set of Energy Suspension polyurethane shift bushings should fix it. They should have some in stock on RockAuto. It's a pain to do it with only a floor jack, but I did it on my first Subie. I was lucky enough to have lift access on my WRX to do it and didn't even break a sweat.

 

[pauleyman]

Well it appears the problem coincided with the sloppy shifter so I'm wondering if something broke inside. I don't want to buy this and have to throw another 1500 to 2k at it. I think I can get it for like 1200. It's a good 10 ft car. Would be lots better with a solid days polish and wax. No rust or major dents. It's a Colorado car.

 

[dustyboner]

early to mid 2000s wrx (regular and STI) have horrible transmissions. i knew a guy that bought a new sti in 2004. he went thru 2 transmissions in bout 1 1/2 years so he traded it for a Evo, then the tranny went out on the dealership.

then my old boss's kid had a wrx about the same year and he would have to come up here to buy another trans 2 or a 3 times a year.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

But the WRX transmission is still stronger than the N/T transmission, and is a direct bolt up. They were probably destroying transmissions because they were driving like fools (launching too high, shifting without full clutch).

 

[pauleyman]

But the WRX transmission is still stronger than the N/T transmission, and is a direct bolt up. They were probably destroying transmissions because they were driving like fools (launching too high, shifting without full clutch).

Yeah so the problem would be finding a trans that isn't trashed already. Worse still i wonder if some of the older wrx are all clapped out...so they take whatever trans they can, leaving nothing available for anybody.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I'm not sure about where you live, but around here the junkyards want $98 for a transmission if you pull it. And there's 4 yards, each having at least one Subaru every time I check. It honestly shouldn't be hard or expensive to get a new trans put in that thing. Me and my brother have both never ran into an issue of finding or affording parts.

You've definitely got a point though. The WRX transmissions are in really high demand because people either don't know how to take care of their shit or they want to upgrade their N/T.

 

[pauleyman]

Well I bought the car but it isn't here just yet. I'm having a flat bed bring it. I've read up a ton and there are some possibilities of what went wrong including clutch, hydraulics etc. Simple stuff on any car. Further still some shift bushings that are really troublesome on subaru. Looks easy. Famous last words.
Man all other car forums I've ever visited pale in comparison to this one. Maybe it's the owners too but it seems like every post out there the poster has NO skills at all.
That being said anybody familiar with subaru sites? Any "good" ones? I'm trolling naioc right now and it's....ehh.
Time will tell. If I'm really lucky I'll be driving an outback in the next week or two.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

There are no good Subaru forums. I've tried nearly all of them and so has my brother with no luck. It seems like a lot of members here have experience with Subarus though so I don't see why you couldn't just use this thread for questions about it. Also, if something looks easy on a Subaru, it probably is. Pulling a WRX engine takes 5 hours if you're goofing off the whole time and an Impreza engine takes 3.

 

[pauleyman]

I'm not afraid of anything. I just hope that if it's inside the trans I can find parts. I'm not sure if they've gotten old like dsm.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Much more Subarus were produced than DSM's. So it isn't half the pain of sourcing parts

 

[pauleyman]

Well I found the problem. The front ujoint failed on the driveshaft and completely separated. In the process the driveshaft swung around and knocked the shifter out of the pivot and completely destroyed the rear pivot bushing also. Question is....did the ujoint fail or did the trans lockup and take out the ujoint? I haven't drained fluid yet but I suspect this was just a ujoint issue and that's it. Now I gotta find a front driveshaft joint. Might have to go used as subaru maintains the driveshaft isn't serviceable. Gotta find a shifter too as this one is mangled. I don't see any damage to the trans thankfully.
Any comments from the subaru crowd?

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Check the fluid level in the trans. My 05 was very low on fluid when I bought it and the noises it was making were horrendous. It probably would've locked up if I didn't add fluid when I did. If it's low it may be locked up. Even if it's at the proper level it wouldn't hurt to change it. Subarus just use regular gear oil so it's not very expensive.

Also check both the front axle seals. I had to replace them both on each of my Subarus. Seems to be a common point of failure.

 

[pauleyman]

Thing is car rolled ok. Starts ok. I'm pretty ready sure clutch was out so whether neutral or in gear it probably tried to turn and there were no noises. I won't get back to it for a few days so time will tell. Figured I'd at least throw these parts on it and go from there.

 

[pauleyman]

Trans oil dipstick is full and clean. I'm going to put a driveahaft in it and send it.

 

[pauleyman]

Well I got a salvage shifter and driveshaft. Driveshaft ujoints were, meh. I don't Wana mess with it right now. And this "non serviceable" staked in crap...who thought this up?
Anyway it moves. I gotta button up interior. I'll drive it tomorrow.